~ lana del rey

'TW: bruises, black eye, general fighting injuries

Lloyd Garmadon sat cross legged on my bed, eating leftover pasta from the bowl I had made earlier. He didn't seem bothered by my staring at all, in fairness, I wasn't even trying to hide it, I guess he was used to people staring at him anyway. He seemed to really be enjoying that pasta though, I should make it again sometime when he wasn't sat on my bed dressed up in a hero costume.
I didn't know what to think or even what to say as he ate in silence. There was so much I could say, sure, but half of it wasn't appropriate and the other half of it would involve me fangirling into oblivion which wouldn't be ideal. The sworn protector of Ninjago was sat on my bed, eating my food, and had been my date multiple times. So many people would be wishing to be in my position right now, but I wasn't even sure if I wanted to be where I was currently. Sure, it was cool, but when you really thought about it, all of the injuries and blood, the danger and betrayal, the hatred and threats... it all sounded so scary.
How could he be so innocent just slurping up that pasta, he was just getting on with it like I had known his identity for years. He had even asked me for hot sauce. He was so nonchalant about the whole thing. Given that I had witnessed so many potential death experiences to this boy, it confused me like mad to think about so many more he could've had without me being there and how he could live with that so normally after.

His hair sat messy on his head. It was sort of a hot mess. I'm sure if I wasn't so in shock right now that I'd be all over it, but currently, it was just messy. Every strand seemed more free, it was sorta pretty. When he cautiously took a sneak look up at me, I got a good look at his eye. The purple that surrounded his green iris was vast in contrast, it almost hurt to look at. How could someone's eye be that bright? I wanted to ask who did it, though wouldn't that be obvious? Someone bad. There were so many bad people out there that wanted to hurt him as both identities.
His bottom lip jutted out involuntarily, there was a small cut, probably from where he had bit into it from the impact, the whole thing looked pretty painful.
How many hits and punches had this man had to take. I'd seen him in action, I knew he could defend himself, he could probably kill a man with one strike, it wouldn't surprise me if he could, but my heart sank for him. He knew all of these defence skills but couldn't use them at school. He had to of been able to take on the 5 guys at school who had dunked his head in the bathrooms, did he just let them because he felt since he was Lloyd he couldn't do anything about it?

"Lloyd," I fiddled with my hands anxiously, eyes flickering to the floor, not wanting to look at him, "How did you, um, get like this?"

"Like what?" He hummed, fork clinking against the now empty bowl, "How did I become a Ninja you mean?"

I nodded, biting my lip, waiting for an answer.

"It's a... long story," He squinted, "Do you have any guesses on who the other Ninja are before I begin?"

"Yes," I said confidently, eyes meeting his.

When I didn't elaborate, he rose an eyebrow. I sighed, God imagine if I was actually wrong and had just completely gaslit myself.

"White Zane, Blue Jay, Red Kai, Gray Nya," I winced, looking at him worriedly.

But surprisingly, he nodded, a smile rose to his lips.

"We're we that obvious?" He chuckled, looking a little bashful.

"Not exactly," I admitted, "Though you did give me too much information at some points. Green Ninja Lloyd and Lloyd Lloyd are very different. I'd nearly convinced myself you weren't the same person because of how you acted when you were the Hero,"

"Nobody knows who I am when I'm The Green Ninja. Everybody loves me, they act like I'm this star... but when I'm Lloyd they act like I'm nobody. It's hard to not get cocky," He explained softly, the atmosphere dipped slightly.

I felt myself frown, I wanted to hug him so tight. As hard as it was to live as himself, a part of me was glad that he had another life where people obsessed over him. Being hated to the point where you felt worthless must be something that completely ruins his life. I jut wanted to fit it for him, fix how everything and anything had gone wrong for him. I'd change who his dad was if I could, I'd do anything for him to-- wait.

"Kai, Cole, Zane and Jay were chosen to--"

"You have to fight your own Dad!" I practically yelled, leaning forward to capture his eyes.

Lloyd leant back slightly, his eyes going wide at my sudden action, "Uh... yeah. That not click for you yet?"

"Lloyd how do you cope!?" I sat back on my thighs, combing my fingers through my hair, "How do you even live like this?"

"I've been doing it since I was 10? 11? I'm kind of used to it now," He shrugged carelessly.

"10?" I struggled not to completely lose my mind, "A little kid?"

Suddenly, he reached out and took my hand. I froze, staring at him.

"There's so much explain Nora but I can't explain everything if you keep interrupting," He said softly, as if he was trying not to insult me, "My childhood was so much different from the normal child experience, so was all the others,"

I continued to be unmoving, my eyes not breaking once from his.

"Do you wanna come back to mine?" Lloyd asked sheepishly, "My Uncle will be able to explain some things much better then me,"

"How?" I wondered, frowning.

I'd met Wu Garmadon, there was nothing strange about him.

"Who do you think trained all of us? What," He cackled at my face, "You think we were born with our fists raised, yelling 'hi-yah!'?"

I smiled at his joke, but what he'd just said filled me with more dread. His Uncle, his own blood chose this life for him? Chose his Nephew to be used as a punching bag for bad guys and come home with cuts and bruises that could potentially be life threatening? Chose all of his friends to have the same painful fate?

"Nora, my Uncle's not a bad man," Lloyd suddenly became serious, crap, how much expression was I giving away? "Can I take you to mine?"

I didn't know what to say to the first part. From where I stood, Wu Garmadon seemed pretty bad to me.

"I don't think I can," I didn't know how to feel, he squeezed my hand, "I want to, but my Dad should be home soon,"

"Sneak out?" Lloyd suggested, looking hopeful that I'd agree.

I wanted to say no and maybe even be a little mad at his words, but I knew I needed to know. How could one of the most sweetest boys ever in the whole wide world be inflicted with such monstrosity?

"I'll try," I nodded, then on cue, I heard the front door open, "I'll tell him I'm too tired for food okay? Go out the window and wait for me,"

My agreement made a wide smile form on his face, "Thanks Noor,"

What was he thanking me for? I was only sneaking out so he could tell me more... but maybe that was the reason. He had kept this all to himself for so long, we had been friends and had been working on becoming more, so maybe he had been wanting me to find out, but had never found the opportunity and was just too scared to make the first move.  I watched Lloyd grab his mask from my bedside table and push it down onto his face. I swallowed, unable to keep myself from staring. I still couldn't believe it. It was like there was a shapeshifter. I couldn't wrap my head around it no matter how many times I had reminded myself this half hour that Lloyd Garmadon was The Green Ninja were the same person.
But he did looked so good too. The crush I had formed on Lloyd and the crush I had formed on The Green Ninja had sort of formed into one which had made my attraction for him bigger. The amount of times I had been dreaming or staring at his build or that time where he showed me that picture of his thigh?? Oh god that was Lloyd! Lloyd was packing all that muscle? Someone introduce my man to form fitting clothes already. To add, all of those times I had awed over Lloyd's innocent looks and his pretty eyes, oh my god I'm going to die.
He looked back at me, his eyes shining brightly and his arms flexing as they reached out for my window. This man needed to leave before I pounced.

"I'll be just outside," He sent me a small wave before ducking back out under the glass.

"Nora?" Dad called up to me, his feet climbing the stairs.

"I'll see you in a sec," I smiled, waving back.

He shut the window, I listened out for a thump signalling him hitting the floor, but it never came. He really was a sneaky Ninja. I hurried under my duvet and pressed my face against my pillow, faking immense tiredness. Dad knocked once then opened my door.

"Oh... Nora? Are you asleep?" Dad whispered.

"No," I grumbled, shifting to look at him.

"How you feeling?" He asked, eyes darting around my room, "You already ate? I said I'd, make you something,"

I glanced at the bowl Lloyd had eaten from and winced, "Sorry Dad, I got hungry and I couldn't wait,"

He sighed, leaning against my doorframe, "No, its okay. At least you ate. How you feeling?"

"Head still hurts," I lied, "Gonna go back to sleep,"

"Okay," He walked over, leant over my bed and pressed a kiss to my temple, "Feel better soon,"

"Thanks Dad," I felt bad for lying to him, but whenever that guilt hit me, I thought about Lloyd waiting outside for me and it vanished, "Night,"

"Sleep well," Then he shut my door slowly with a loud clink.

I waited for a long moment, listening for his footsteps to fade away as he got downstairs again, then I flew out of bed. I felt a little silly. How does someone sneak out? They push their pillows together so it looks like a body... right? I did that quickly, pushing my duvet up close against my pillows that I had placed out in a long line across my bed. I threw my blanket along the side to make it look like I had tried to cover my eyes, if I had a headache then my eyes would be super sensitive right? Was I overthinking this or was I doing this right? You know when you're overthinking something and it turns out bad but you think it's good because you're praying it's not bad...? Yeah I felt like that right now.
I shook off my anxiety and grabbed a cardigan, I had already wasted so much time, Lloyd was outside, I didn't have time to change out of my pyjamas. I felt a little giddy. I'd never snuck out before and I had definitely never had a super hero cross hated civilian boyfriend before. Oh my god I was one of those girls. I'd read about made up characters and their superhero boyfriends in all of these made up books. Holy crap I'm gonna die right now. No way was this my life.

I tiptoed over to my window, pulling on my sliders and then glancing out into the dark sky. The tall buildings of Ninjago City sparked up the blue making thousands of yellow blocks appear throughout the skyline making it seem like there was more stars out. It honestly was such a beautiful city when you were seeing it from the right viewpoint.

"Psst! Nora it's cold!"

I looked down to see Lloyd with his arms crossed close to his chest, his feet bouncing as he tried to contain his shivers. Oops, maybe I did get too drunk.

"How do I do this?" I stressed, gripping the windowsill, "Do I just jump?"

"No!" He sounded mad that I had even suggested a potentially harmful thing, "I'll come up and help you,"

I watched him climb the tree effortlessly a foot away from my house. He looked like he should've been a monkey, climbing that tree with such expertise. Then he did something that made my heart pound. The thing was, I'd never actually fully witnessed how he got to my window, he just always seemed to be there. So when he dangled from the branch and shuffled his hands down it until he was close enough away to swing his body without hitting anything, my grip on my window tightened. I tried to remind myself that he'd probably acquired worse injuries from worse situations and if he fell from this height he'd probably only gain a twisted ankle, but my anxiety didn't fade.
I bit my lip and I watched his swings increase before he let go of the branch and launched himself onto the gutter. With a soft groan, he regained his balance and then shuffled across to my window.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked, a small frown pulling on his features.

"You're crazy," I accused, confident in my findings.

He rolled his eyes, "Climb out of the window,"

I huffed, trying to think of something to say to counter his sass but came up with nothing. I pushed my legs through, sitting on the edge of my window. It was cold outside. I looked at him worriedly.

"I'm scared," I whispered, "I don't want to fall,"

His gloved hand overlapped mine held tight on the windowsill, "It's okay, I won't let you,"

I stared at him, I believed him obviously, who wouldn't? With a tense nod, I shuffled myself around and slowly dangled myself out of the window with the comfort that his hand was still on mine. He wouldn't let me fall. The Green Ninja, Lloyd Garmadon would not let me fall.
Clenching my jaw to muffle a yelp, I let go of my window to try and grab onto the gutter.
As if it was a reflex action, Lloyd grabbed me tightly, the hand covering mine swapping to holding my waist, shoving me against his side so I had no room to move. We stayed like that for a few moments, basking in the fact that I had nearly slipped. I don't think I had been this close to him before. Sure, we'd hugged, but this felt different. His gloved hand sat so tightly against my ribs that I felt my face stara to heat up. My side was pressed tightly against his that I could feel his heartbeat through his thick Gi. It was fast. I wondered if he was blushing too.

"Step with me," He instructed, glancing down at our feet, "We're gonna shuffle this way,"

I nodded, trying to focus on his words but I really couldn't. I just wanted to hide in his chest and feel his arms around me tighter. I tried to focus, as much as my impulsive thoughts told me to do some not so innocent things, I followed what he said to do. I shuffled my feet shakily everytime he stepped to the side. He'd been doing this since he was 10 or 11, climbing on the side of buildings didn't seem so challenging for him. Not gonna lie, that concerned me a little.

"Okay maybe I am gonna make you jump," He spoke mostly to himself but those words alarmed me, "Unless you think you can shuffle across that tree branch without falling?"

"I'm gonna die," I said without thinking.

He snorted, pressing his forehead against the brick to laugh.

"Stop laughing at me when I'm scared," I complained, though found his laugh very cute.

"You're scared? Seriously? I thought fear wasn't a word where you came from?" He rose an eyebrow, I could sense the smirk from under the mask.

I gave him a pointed look, "I will tell everyone who The Green Ninja is if you keep being annoying," I stared at him blankly, but that facade broke, "Make sure you catch me,"

He laughed again, rolling his eyes once more, "Hold on tight,"

His hand left my side and he leaped off the side of my house and grabbed onto the bark of the tree. I watched with wide eyes as he shuffled to the trunk then swung down, gripping onto it then slipping down. He hit the grass silently then walked back to the brick again. He opened his arms out, ready for me to jump.
Holy crap I was about to fall and I'd either die or he'd catch me. I was 95% sure he'd catch me, of course he would, but the other 5% thought he was going to be an asshole and just let me fall. It seemed like a Green Ninja thing to do, not a Lloyd thing to do.
Even that had me so confused. Lloyd was so different in that costume. How could I be so sure that his feelings for me actually stayed the same when his actions changed whenever he put on that mask?
Shutting my eyes, I let go of the gutter. The air smacked against my back and I had to clench my jaw to stop a scream from ripping through my lips. It was over in 3 seconds. Strong arms encased my back and legs, I opened my eyes to see Lloyd staring down at me. I was in his arms bridal style, pressed up against his chest. Oh my god I'm gonna have a heart attack. He stared back at me, equally shocked at our closeness.

"You can put me down now," I whispered, wanting nothing more then to lift his mask ever so slightly just to kiss him there and then.

"Okay," His voice cracked so he cleared his throat.

Even though he agreed, he kept me in his arms for another few seconds, then set me on my feet. The ground felt unfamiliar, I wanted to stay in his embrace forever.

"How are we getting there?" I wondered, finding the perfect opportunity to joke back, "I'm sure Ninjago won't react lightly when they see me with their hero,"

"Oh don't worry, my dragon's in the forest," He grabbed my hand and started pulling me into the thick bushes beside my house.

"Oh okay," I nodded, more focused on the fact that he had just grabbed my hand.

But then I actually realised what he had said.

"Dragon!?" I cried, staring at him, my heels digging into the ground to stop walking.

"Dragon," He confirmed with a cocky little smirk.

Lloyd Garmadon was going to give me a heart attack which resulted in my death one day. I was sure of it.

🐉

How do you guys feel about me doing some parts in Lloyd's POV?

Also enjoy a barely even started sketch of Nora.

Memes:

Also lowkey I wrote most of this drunk 😀👍 sorry if its bad

Also this is a shorter chapter because the next one is gonna be big because of the lore drop.  :)